Thursday, January 9, 2014

I Owe a Recap

Wow! I'm such a slacker. You would think that with 9+ weeks of bedrest I would have plenty of time to blog. I just haven't had a lot to say.

I am now 30 weeks 3 days! Woohoo! When we went in at 21 weeks for the cerclage, we basically were told making it to 24 weeks would be tough and making it last 27 would be a miracle. I am just so, so thankful to be in this position. If the babies decided to come at any time, they would survive with no lasting long term side effects. Praise be to GOD because I'm under no doubts whatsoever that this is all Him. He gets the glory.

These last four weeks have been a little crazy. I always have appointments on Tuesdays with both the Maternal Fetal Medicine doctors and also my regular OB/GYN, Dr. W.

The week before Christmas, the ultrasound showed some shrinking of my cervix, down to around 1.5. However, it wasn't steady. My cervix is very fluid and in a matter of a 3-minute ultrasound can vary over a centimeter. The MFM dr was throwing around inserting a pessary, which is a device that basically inflates inside the vaginal canal and holds the pressure of the cervix. My OB however felt it wasn't absolutely necessary and wanted to check again in a week.

The week of Christmas and New Year happened to fall where the MFM doctors weren't in Cape, so I saw my regular OB for ultrasounds and checks. The week of Christmas my cervix was back to measuring over 2.0 which for me was great. She even gave me her blessing to attend our family Christmas gatherings on Christmas Eve!

The week of New Years my regular OB was on vacation, so I saw her partner. Of course, with a different ultrasound tech AND different OB things had to have changed. My cervix was back down to 1.5 and since the doctor wasn't as familiar with my case she decided to admit me to L&D. Thankfully I was not contracting and after making some phone calls, she let me go home.

Tuesday I woke up planning to be at the MFM clinic by 8:00 for my appointment. Since it was a routine check, Justin planned on going to work so he can save his days for when the babies arrive and my mom was going to take me. However, when I got up to use the bathroom I had some light bleeding. I was terrified! That's the first sign, especially with a cerclage, that the cervix could be changing. I screamed through for Justin who ran in, threw on clothes, and flew to the school to get a substitute arranged. Of course, this was before the doctor office opened and then on-call number wouldn't work!! I finally got through to L&D at the hospital who told me to go straight to my MFM appointment (which is at the hospital with the L&D floor) to be checked.

Now, since our surprise admission the precious week, I got busy and already had a complete toiletry bag packed with everything both Justin & I needed (except of course things we use daily that couldn't be packed) and I had a clothing bag started as well. I finished getting dressed and threw everything else we needed in bags, and by the time Justin got back to the house I was ready to go.

After being examined by MFM, the ultrasound showed my cervix still at 1.5 and the cerclage still in place. That was a huge blessing - Gods work #2 of the day! (I will get back to #1). We also had a growth scan and both babies are perfectly healthy and BIG! God's work #3 of the day. The MFM nurse, who I adore, went ahead and called my doctor who was on the L&D floor finishing surgery and filled her in. Dr. W told me to meet her at her office instead of waiting for my appointment after lunch so she could check me as well. God's work #4.

Dr. W did a full internal exam (ouch) and also checked for dilation (double ouch) and discovered what she believed was an infection. She sent me immediately to  be admitted to L&D for monitoring. God's work #4 of the day.

Once on the monitors it was almost immediately apparent I was contracting, though mild and sporadically, but I had no clue. Monday night I didn't sleep and was up frequently to pee and felt general discomfort, but none of the typical signs of contractions. I fully believe the bleeding was God's first way of working in our life that morning to alert me something was off. If if hadn't been for that, it would have taken the contractions becoming much more before I realized what was happening.

We went ahead and did the steroid injections to help mature the babies lungs just in case, along with treating my infection. After an overnight stay I'm glad to be home.

Where does this leave us? Right now I'm measuring 40 weeks so my uterus thinks it is full term. Mild sporadic contractions are normal. If they become painful, more than 4 an hour, or I notice bleeding or leaking of fluids, I call and head straight to L&D. Otherwise, back to bed rest and following up with weekly appointments.

We still need prayers these guys calm down and decide to stay in moms belly just a while longer!

The one picture we took in the hospital - right before discharge!

I will be back with some bump updates, pictures from our shower, and maybe a Christmas recap?

1 comment:

  1. Wow, definitely a God story! Glad you and the babies are doing so well.

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